Sam watched with dread as Dawson's boat docked again. He came up on deck with a hooded figure tossed over his shoulder. They were probably Stunned, since Dawson was carrying them, though they were still tied just as much as the other two had been. Why the hood though? Was Dawson afraid of showing Sam or Marietta who this was? He thought he saw some ginger locks of hair, though he couldn't be sure. Dawson unceremoniously tossed the person into the second top-security cell. How were they supposed to get loose from their ropes all alone? Sam didn't even dare to ask. He was just glad that Dawson didn't pause to check on his progress. He still hadn't finished the third top-security cell, even though he had told him it was ready. He really needed to get that done, if he didn't want to end up in one of the cells himself.
Without a word to either of them, Dawson was off again. Sam didn't know whether to be relieved to see the boat disappear on the horizon, or dread what would happen the next time it came.
***
"Hey, there is an opening here! There is definitely open air in this area." James sounded hopeful for the first time since he was tossed into the hole. Scorpius started digging faster as well. Yes! There was an opening. A large one. As they made the hole bigger though, they both felt disheartened again. It was another cell, just like the one they had behind them.
"Great. This was just what we needed. Another hole with no way out." Just as James said that however, the door in the ceiling opened. Scorpius made sure to keep in the corner, in case someone would look down. Had their breakthrough been noticed so quickly?
No, it was another body being tossed down, tied up just like James had been, but now also with a hood over the head. It wasn't moving. Scorpius tried to get to the opening before it closed, but he was too slow. And there was still no way to actually get up there.
He quickly ran over to the body instead, removing the hood. A flash of ginger hair made him gasp. James was right behind him and saw it too.
"Mum! No!" he quickly got down on the floor and started trying to remove the bonds. Scorpius checked for a pulse and breathed a sigh of relief when he found it.
"She's alive," he reassured him. "She's probably just Stunned." James didn't reply as he frantically continued trying to remove the tight ropes.
Scorpius took out his wand. If Dawson wondered how she had recovered all on her own, well, let him wonder. It wouldn't be the strangest thing that had happened in the Potter family.
"Rennervate" Scorpius whispered. Not that he actually cared if anyone heard him. At this point, he would welcome a battle. Anything to get him away from this dark hole.
Ginny stirred, confused. Her eyes started taking in the scene around her as James finally got the gag off from behind.
"I… Where am I? Who are you? What happened to me?"
"I don't know where we are, other than down a hole in the ground with no way out." Scorpius replied.
"Scorpius? I barely even recognised you. I didn't know you could grow a beard."
"Neither did I. I normally use a fake one when I disguise myself. I suppose two weeks in a hole was what was needed to make it appear."
"Two weeks? What are you talking about?"
"I don't know how long it's been exactly, it's kind of hard to keep track of time down here, but it must have been at least that long."
"And why am I tied up?"
"Sorry, I forgot." Scorpius quickly removed the ropes, no longer bothering to try to hide that they were removed by magic.
"Why didn't you just do that with my ropes?" James asked. "It would have been so much easier."
"I was worried that Dawson would notice the ropes were removed with magic and work out the fact that I still have a wand."
"And you're no longer worried about that?"
"No."
James didn't bother commenting further. Ginny had realised someone else was there. She gasped when she saw James.
"James! What are you doing here?"
"What are any of us doing here? Do you have any idea what's happening? Have you talked to Dad after I went missing?"
"I didn't even know you were missing. Is this related to why you all suddenly ran out before dinner on Friday?"
"Most likely. How long ago was that?"
"Last I remember, it was Monday morning. How long have I been down here?"
"You were just thrown in. Lucky for you, we just managed to dig our way into this cell." Scorpius said.
"I think you better tell the whole story," Ginny said. "Then we can work out what to do next."
James told most of the story. Scorpius didn't have the words to explain it all. He started searching the walls, looking for the best place to continue their digging. If they went straight ahead from where they had entered this cell, wouldn't they just find more cells? He had no idea how many there were. Maybe not all of them were finished, some of them may even be open. It was the best chance they had, better than digging in any other direction and hope that they maybe found something else.
James finished explaining and Scorpius told them what he wanted to do next. None of them could think of anything better, so they started digging yet another hole in yet another wall. If nothing else, it would give them more space to move around in. With all three of them digging, it went a lot faster.